Cafe Du Monde is a must stop when you are touring the French Quarter in New Orleans. Open 24 hours, every local has had coffee au lait with beignets here. The coffee is flavored with chicory, and the beignets look like they've been hit by a powdered sugar avalanche!
The original Cafe Du Monde was just a stand started in the 1860s at the French Market. Now it has a huge green and white striped awning which covers the patio and a smaller indoor dining area -- all barely cooled with ceiling fans. Want a behind-the-scenes tour of the place? The 99 Cent Chef has it. You'll see the waitstaff busting coffee cups and beignets amid snow drifts of powdered sugar. And its cheap -- 3 beignets and coffee for about $5 total.
The coffee beans are dark roast. To tone down coffee's bitterness, it's brewed with chicory. You can order your coffee "black" or light brown "au lait" -- au lait means half milk and half coffee.
The beignets are deep fried squares of pillowy dough covered in powdered sugar. Yeast is used, so the doughnuts are light and airy like a sponge. You will get dusted with white powered sugar, so make sure to lay out napkins on your lap, especially if you are wearing black. I usually shake off the powered sugar -- enough is left on to sweeten the beignets.
If you want to make your own homemade beignets, Cafe Du Monde has a mix to sell you on its website, here. Or you can just use my Krispy Kreme Doughnut recipe, that's posted here. The only thing you need to change about my recipe is to cut the doughnuts into squares, and, of course, don't punch out a donut hole.
Cafe Du Monde is a great way to start, or end, your French Quarter tour.
Cafe Du Monde - Video
Cafe Du Monde - Video
Play it here. The video runs about 1 minute and 32 seconds.
To view or embed from YouTube, click here.
Cafe Du Monde - for various Louisiana locations, click here.
Main location: 800 Decatur Street, New Orleans, La. 70116
Phone: (504) 525-4544
Website: www.cafedumonde.com
Beautiful!!!
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